Tag Archives: clare champion

A PRIZEWINNING artwork, entered by Ennis student Cillian Boyd, is one of 13 artworks selected from the archives to illustrate the 2021 Texaco Children’s Art Competition Calendar just published. Amongst artworks drawn from the past 16 years of the competition, Cillian submitted his entry entitled ‘Gulls, Autumn Morning’ in the 51st year of the competition, held in 2005, as a pupil at Gaelcholáiste an Chláir, Ennis. Winning third prize in the 14-15 years age category, his piece appears during the month of September in the new calendar where it will be seen in thousands of homes throughout Ireland during the coming year. Commenting at the time, a competition adjudicator said that Cillian’s piece was “one of a number that perfectly reflects the artistic talent and creativity that many young people in Ireland possess and the essential role schools play by encouraging and inspiring their students through art education”. A multiple winner, Cillian achieved further success across a number of years …

WITNESSES are being sought after the homes of elderly people in Ennis and Clarecastle were targetted by burglars last week. Both incidents occurred on Friday night, December 4, with gardaí in Ennis appealing to anybody with any information to contact them. The first burglary took place in a house in the Crescent on St Senan’s Road Ennis. At approximately7.40pm an elderly couple were downstairs in their home when they heard a loud noise upstairs. The elderly man went up the stairs and saw that a lock on a bedroom had been opened and that a hall window was open. When he looked out he saw a male wearing a peaked cap sitting on a flat roof of the house. This male then made his escape. There was nothing taken in this burglary, gardaí have confirmed. The second burglary occurred around 8.45pm in a house in Manusmore, Clarecastle. An elderly man who was in bed heard a loud bang in his …

CLARE County Library have plenty to keep book lovers ‘appy’ this December. The library service has announced the development of an app to enhance visits to the library. You will soon be able to check in and check out your own books in the county’s Wi-Fi-enabled libraries, at De Valera Library, Ennis, Shannon, Kilrush, Scariff, Sixmilebridge, Ennistymon and Miltown Malbay. The app will also be able to check your own account, update your loans, search the catalogue, reserve books and e-resources. The Clare County Library app is free and available on the App Store and the Google Store. That’s not the only technological advancement being progressed by Clare County Library services. Dormant Account Funding grant aid is to be utilised to provide literacy software to Clare schools. Library staff have contacted over 100 primary schools in the county in the past number of weeks to offer Touch-type, Read and Spell (TTRS) licences to students. So far, Clare schools have requested …

ENNIS local Margaret Hurley has been presented with a national award for her volunteering work. Margaret was named a winner in the Health and Wellbeing category in the national Volunteer Ireland Awards for her commitment to the Irish Wheelchair Association. Margaret Hurley has been volunteering with the Irish Wheelchair Association in Ennis for over 15 years. Known to her friends as ‘Mags’, she has been the backbone of the Ennis branch, and has been the driver, literally and metaphorically, of hundreds of activities over the years. She is currently the Branch Treasurer, but also acts as a driver of IWA’s wheelchair accessible minibus when required. Despite the considerable time commitment Margaret gives to the local volunteer branch, her dedication to the organisation is so strong that she also has another volunteer role with the Irish Wheelchair Association charity shop in Ennis. According to Clare Volunteer Centre Manager, Sharon Meaney, “The Clare branch of the Irish Wheelchair Association were determined to …

KILNAMONA author Doireann Ní Ghríofa has told us that she is still in disbelief that her debut prose book ‘A Ghost in the Throat’ was a winner at the prestigious Irish Book Awards. The publication is now on the shortlist for Irish Book of the Year, with the winner set to be announced on a televised show this week. The best-selling publication was named Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards recently. Speaking to The Clare Champion she said, “I still can’t believe that ‘A Ghost in the Throat’ has won this amazing award! It’s been such a strange year. To publish a book in the middle of a pandemic seemed impossible, but my publisher Tramp Press have surpassed themselves, as have all the bookshops that have encouraged people to read it. So many readers in Clare have taken it to their hearts, and I’m very grateful to each and every one of them.” The award winning book sees …

GARDAÍ seized €1,900 of suspected drugs in Kilrush, on Tuesday, December 8. As part of an ongoing operation targeting the sale and supply of drugs in West Clare, Gardaí from Kilrush executed a search warrant at a house in the Kilrush area at around 11am. During the course of the search Gardaí seized €1,500 of suspected cannabis herb and €400 of suspected benzodiazepine tablets along with a quantity of plastic bags. The suspected drugs will now be sent to Forensic Science Ireland for analysis. No arrests have been made but Gardaí are following a definite line of enquiry.

THE Lions Club of Ennis are ‘branching’ out their annual Remembrance Tree fundraising project, with people from all over the world now able to get involved. For the past ten years the Lions Club have partnered with the Ennis Municipal District to host their fundraising campaign for Cahercalla Hospice, placing yellow ribbons containing special messages of remembrance on a Christmas tree in Ennis’ market area. The popular fundraiser has become a firm tradition of Christmas in Clare, raising on average €13,000 for Cahercalla over the years. This year the club will be continuing that tradition, however Michael Neylon of the Ennis Lions tells us that Covid-19 has resulted in challenges with footfall not expected to be as large as it has been in previous years and fears this will result in fewer donations. In a bid to ensure that the charity receives as much funding as possible, the Ennis Lions have initiated an on-line fundraiser, meaning not just locals, but …

CLARE Haven Services are continuing to shine a light on violence against women having launched a very special virtual candlelit remembrance. Despite Covid-19 the local organisation is currently marking the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. This annual international campaign running from November 25 the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, until December 10, Human Rights Day aims to raise awareness and to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls. Clare Haven’s annual candle-lit walk through the streets of Ennis remembering women and children killed by partners or ex-partners is not possible due to Covid-19. However, Clare Haven Services have joined forces with artist Emma Houlihan, Clare County Library and An Garda Siochana in developing a virtual lighted walk. Dr Siobhán O’Connor, Manager of Services, Clare Haven Services explains, “For the last 12 years, to remember the women who have been killed in County Clare by their partners or ex-partners, Clare …